New York City begins shipping migrants north. Provinces fight it.

NEWBURGH, NY — After days of furious confrontations over the possibility of New York City transporting migrants to nearby suburban counties, two busloads of migrants arrived Thursday at a hotel in Newburgh, in Orange County, about 60 miles north of Manhattan.

They were greeted by about 15 supporters, who waved signs and cheered their arrival, and Newburgh police officers, who moved aside and allowed the buses to park at the front door of the Crossroads Hotel here.

When the second bus arrived, just before 1 p.m., 19 men got off. They traveled light, with two dozen bags between them.

The peaceful arrival contrasted sharply with fierce opposition expressed in recent days by some leaders and residents of Rockland and Orange counties, who had vowed to do everything they could to prevent New York Mayor Eric Adams from would send the migrants north. .

In Orangetown, a Rockland County town 43 miles south of Newburgh, that resistance took the form of police officers and sheriff’s deputies, who parked their cruisers at the entrance to the parking lot of the Armoni Inn & Suites hotel and all week, with orders from provincial leaders to physically block and search any bus of migrants that might arrive.

In Newburgh Thursday morning, after the migrants arrived, men on motorcycles drove past the Crossroads Hotel and shouted obscenities at the journalists and immigrant lawyers gathered outside.

Those interactions were more intense Wednesday night, when a group of people protesting the migrants’ arrival stood outside the hotel and told those gathering to support the migrants to “go home,” according to a video of the interaction.

“We’re from here!” the pro-migrant demonstrators shouted back.

The political deadlock over where the migrants would be housed began last Friday, when Adams announced he would send them to hotels in Orange and Rockland counties. All migrants who took part would do so voluntarily, Mr Adams said. They would receive accommodation in hotels for up to four months, all paid for by the city.

The political reaction to the mayor’s announcement this week gripped all levels of New York State government. Leaders in both provinces declared a state of emergency, as did Governor Kathy Hochul.

“It’s just poorly executed and indicative of how they handled this from day 1,” said Steven Neuhaus, the Orange County manager. “They really need to start communicating more.”

Rockland County, the City of Orangetown and the City of Newburgh all sought temporary restraining orders to prevent migrants from arriving. The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a federal countersuit Thursday.

The Rockland County Health Department inspected the Armoni Hotel, one of the hotels selected to house migrants, and found its operating permit had expired in April, county manager Ed Day said.

“It was a sneak attack in the middle of the night,” Orangetown supervisor Teresa Kenny said of Mr Adams’ decision to send migrants there. “If the mayor really wanted a successful plan, it was his responsibility to call us months ago.”

Mr Adams began transporting migrants to nearby suburban towns in an effort to relieve the burden on the city’s shelters and hotels, which are becoming overcrowded as tens of thousands of migrants arrive in the city, mostly from Latin America.

The buses to Newburgh left the city hours before the expiration of Title 42, an executive order issued by former President Donald J. Trump at the start of the coronavirus pandemic that allowed officials to quickly deport hundreds of thousands of migrants, some of whom might otherwise have been allowed asylum .

According to City Hall officials, more than 60,000 migrants have arrived in New York City in the past year, with 4,200 in the past week alone.

Citing federal sources, state officials have warned that weekly arrivals are likely to increase to as many as 5,000 with the end of Title 42, which is scheduled to expire at midnight.

More than 37,500 migrants are now in urban care in more than 120 emergency shelters and eight larger centers.

New York City is frantically looking for additional space to house them, including in an abandoned mental hospital and in hangars at Kennedy International Airport. City officials even asked an owner of the Flatiron Building if there was room there (he said no).

“We could potentially get thousands of people a day into our city,” Mr Adams said.

Even as the buses arrived in Orange County on Thursday, officials there were seeking a last-minute court order to block the city’s plan, according to Mr. Neuhaus.

Both he and Mr. Day have faulted Mr. Adams for not communicating effectively with them and behaving in a wayward manner.

As tensions rose, Mr. Day even threatened to grab Mr. Adams “by the throat.”

Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for Mr. Adams, said Wednesday evening that Mr. Day was “unable to show an ounce of the humane and compassionate care that New York City has shown over the past year.”

The mayor said on Thursday he had no choice but to send migrants further north. He also pointedly noted that unlike Texas Governor Greg Abbott, New York City would pay for the migrants’ hotel rooms and support services.

“Everything is on the table,” said the mayor.

“I mean, that’s an ‘oh shucks’ moment,” he said, referring to the influx of 4,200 migrants over the past week. “And I only say ‘shucks’ because I’m being televised.”